Death of Russian minister on return from Cuba is latest unexplained incident involving Moscow’s elites

CNN
 — 

A Russian politician died of – as of but – unknown causes after falling in poor health on a airplane on Saturday, the latest in a string of mysterious deaths amongst Russian elites.

Russia’s Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education, Pyotr Kucherenko, 46, died whereas returning from a visit to Cuba on Saturday, in keeping with the ministry.

“Kucherenko was feeling ill while on a plane with a Russian delegation that was returning from a business trip to Cuba. The plane landed in the city of Mineralnye Vody, where doctors tried to assist,” the ministry stated in an announcement posted on its web site, including that the minister couldn’t be saved.

Kucherenko’s household stated his dying could have been from a coronary heart situation however a forensic examination will probably be held on Wednesday, in keeping with the state-run broadcaster Zvezda.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated he was not conscious of Kucherenko’s trigger of dying.

Journalist Roman Super, who fled Russia shortly after it invaded Ukraine final February, stated on his Telegram channel that he had spoken with Kucherenko “just days” earlier than fleeing. He stated Kucherenko feared for his security and inspired him to go away Russia.

“Save yourself and your family. Leave as soon as possible. You cannot imagine the degree of brutalization of our state. In a year you won’t recognize Russia at all. By leaving you are doing the right thing,” Super quoted Kucherenko as saying.

Super stated he requested Kucherenko if he too wished to go away Russia, to which, he stated, the minister replied: “It is no longer possible to do so. They take away our passports. And there is no such world where they will now be happy with the deputy Russian minister after this fascist invasion.”

The journalist added that Kucherenko advised him he’d been taking antidepressants and tranquilizers, quoting him as saying: “I drink them in handfuls. And it doesn’t help much. I hardly sleep. I feel terrible. We are all taken hostage. Nobody can say anything. Otherwise, we are immediately crushed like bugs.”

It has been reported that senior Russian officers on the Kremlin and within the areas have been forbidden from leaving their posts. IStories, a web based investigative information outlet based mostly outdoors Russia and run by a widely known journalist Roman Anin, reported final week that a number of governors, officers inside the safety forces and folks from the presidential administration had tried to quit but had not been allowed to. Peskov dismissed the report as a hoax.

Kucherenko’s demise is not the primary unexplained Russian dying to spark curiosity.

At least 13 high-profile Russian businessmen have reportedly died by suicide or in unexplained accidents within the final yr, with six of them related to Russia’s two largest vitality firms.

Russian sausage magnate-turned-lawmaker Pavel Antov died in India in December after falling from the third ground of his resort, in keeping with the Indian police.

Antov’s dying got here after his good friend and journey companion Vladimir Budanov died of a coronary heart assault on Antov’s 65th birthday, two days earlier, in keeping with the police. Budanov was 61 years previous and had a preexisting coronary heart situation, the police stated, including that they believed Antov’s dying was a suicide.

Alexander Buzakov, the top of a serious Russian shipyard that makes a speciality of constructing non-nuclear submarines, died out of the blue in December, with no trigger of dying given by the authorities, Reuters information company reported.

Anatoly Gerashchenko, the previous rector to the Moscow Aviation Institute, died in an unspecified accident in September, in keeping with an announcement from the institute.

Lukoil chairman Ravil Maganov died at first of September after falling out of the window of a hospital in Moscow, in keeping with TASS.

In mid-September, Russian businessman Ivan Pechorin, who was the highest supervisor for the Corporation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic, was discovered lifeless in Vladivostok, in keeping with Russian state media. Pechorin drowned on September 10 close to Cape Ignatyev in Vladivostok, regional media reported.

Another prime Lukoil supervisor, Alexander Subbotin, was discovered lifeless close to Moscow in May after reportedly visiting a shaman, TASS reported.

How to get assist: In the United States, name the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. The International Association for Suicide Prevention and Befrienders Worldwide can also present contact info for disaster facilities all over the world.